Things You Need to Know About New York City

New York City is what it is: over-familiar, hackneyed, with a plentiful of yellow taxis and high-rise tapered-top buildings, hot-dog carts and steam rising from below the streets, brownstone terraced houses and outdoor fire escapes on most multiple-story residential buildings.

A little soiled, a little dramatic.

This is New York City.

One common mistake that many make is to confuse New York with New York City.New York City is the populous city in the State of New York, which consists of other cities like Albany (its capital), Rochester, Long Beach, Buffalo etc. And Manhattan is one of the five boroughs in New York City, others being Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens.

1. The Empire State Building

These are the view from the main deck of the Empire State Building. Yes, this is the romantically pivotal place where Chuck wanted Blair to meet him or risk losing their future together in the Gossip Girl series.

Also, where King Kong liked to take his rest after a long day.

2. Wall Street

In the financial district, Lower Manhattan. Home to the New York Stock Exchange and where money never sleeps.

3. Central Park

What’s 150 years old and still green and lively – the country’s first public park and is almost entirely man-made. You can find plenty of restaurants, playgrounds, tennis courts, beautiful fountains, carousel and a zoo. It is huge.

If you are wondering, that is the Angel of Water Fountain taken from the Bethesda Terrace, where Chuck married Blair in the Gossip Girl series, also where Falcon is killed in Stuart Little 2.

4. The Rest of Midtown Manhattan

Here’s around the famous Fifth Avenue, where Grand Central Terminal, Bryant Park, Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building are within walking distance.

The sky-high building is the Rockefeller Centre and unbeknown to many, it sways with the wind.

In fact, most tall buildings do. I always thought it is an urban myth until I saw it with my own eyes. How thrilling!

All in all, I find NYC very tourist-friendly. It is quite a small city with great public transports. One of the most bothersome issues for tourists is having to spend large amount of time commuting from one attraction to another. This problem doesn’t happen in NYC because it is quite modest in size – the entire area of the city is smaller than the urban area of London.

This piece of land to me, to many, seems like an extension of story. People make it to the New York City and something exciting, something transformational, something more is always going to happen.

There is room for expectations and story doesn’t begin here because it is usually a place where climax happens.

With love x

Additional info for public transportation: Be it the subway or yellow taxi, the fares are relatively affordable. The base rate for subway is $2.50, whereas in London it’s £2.20 (around $3.60) for an adult to travel within Zone 1 only. If you are travelling in pairs or more, I would recommend taking taxi. The minimum rate (upon entry) is $2.50 and only £0.50 for additional unit. The best thing? There could be easily 5 taxis within a block and they would take you even if it’s for a short distance.

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